Read Telegraph Sport's guide to the athletics event at the London 2012
Paralympics.

With 170 events and 1,100 athletes, athletics is the biggest sport on the Paralympics agenda. It is open to all disability groups, meaning there is a lengthy list of classes. Athletes compete in traditional track and field events with modifications made for certain disabilities.

The track events range from 100m to 5,000m - there is no Paralympic 10,000m. Field events are split into throwing - featuring discus, javelin and shot put - and jumping, consisting of high jump, long jump and triple jump.

Like in the Olympics, track events start with heats to eliminate athletes, before the best performers meet in a final. The marathons will be straight finals held on the streets of central London.

The first number of each class symbolises the disability group while the last number reflects the severity - the lower the number, the heavier the disability.

A 'T' or an 'F' is added in front of each number to signal whether the athlete competes in track or field events.

Gold medals available

170

Tactics and techniques

The demands upon athletics are best summarised by the Olympic motto "higher, stronger, faster". A wide range of techniques and physical abilities are required, depending on the nature of the event and of the athletes' disabilities.

Wheelchair athletes, for example, require formidable strength from their upper bodies and as well-drilled coordination, whether wheeling oneself forward on the track or trying to generate maximum power behind a throw.

Blind athletes are permitted acoustic signals in the 100m, long jump and triple jump events - such as voice or hand clapping. They are also allowed a guide runner for track events shorter than 1,500m, to make sure they stay within their lane. Here, runner and guide occupy one track each.

Watch

Facts (and phrases)

With athletics being the most ancient form of activity and, in many ways, the symbol of Olympic ideology, it was an obligatory inclusion to the first Paralympics, in Rome in 1960.

Only two Paralympian athletes have ever competed at athletics in the Olympics. American Marla Runyan won five Paralympic gold medals between 1992 and 1996 before qualifying for the Olympics. She came eight in the 1,500m final in Sydney 2000, and also competed in Athens 2004.

South African sprinter Oscar Pistorius then followed her lead when he competed in both the 400m and 4x400m at the London 2012 Olympics.

What is Raza?

A mathematical formula is applied to each athlete's throw or jump distance to calculate a points score. The athlete with the highest score wins, meaning the athlete with the least impairment does not receive an unfair advantage. The algorithm was established by tracking a number of athletes' performances over a range of years.

What about combined class events?

Sometimes there is not an event available for a particular classification. In this case athletes have the option of competing up a class with athletes with less impairment. For these events there is no points scoring system. The fastest run and furthest throw or jump wins.

Legends

The most successful Paralympian in terms of medals is Franz Nietlispach of Switzerland, who won a formidable 14 gold and six silver medals between 1980 and 2000. He has also competed in handcycling and table tennis, and is now a politician in his home country.

Tanni Grey-Thompson, who has won 11 gold medals in wheelchair racing, is among Britain's most successful Paralympians of all time.

British stars

David Weir won two gold medals in Beijing. His double in the T54 800m and 1,500m could be bettered this time as he will also be competing in the 400m and 5,000m. Other hopefuls include sprinter Jonnie Peacock, discus-thrower Dan Greaves, middle-distance runner Paul Blake and wheelchair sprinter Hannah Cockroft.

British chances

Britain won an array of silver and bronze medals in 2008 and will be hoping to go one or two better this time. More than 20 medals this year is not beyond reach.

International rivals

China were head and shoulders above everyone, even before Beijing. Australia were also strong in 2008.

Schedule

Athletics in the Olympic Stadium begins on August 31 and concludes on September 8. The marathon will be held on September 9.

Venues

The Olympic Stadium for track and field events, and central London for the marathon, starting and finishing at the Mall.